Passing of Pavement Preservation Champion James S. Moulthrop
Marty and Jim Moulthrop
Aug. 19, 2025 — Long-time pavement preservation and recycling champion, and former FP2 executive director, James S. Moulthrop, P.E., passed away Friday, Aug. 15.
He retired in January 2022 after having served since 2009 as executive director of FP2 Inc., formerly the Foundation for Pavement Preservation.
For decades he was a pioneer in promoting environmentally sustainable pavement preservation and recycling, and played a national role in developing, promoting and supporting initiatives that preserve America’s pavements.
He is survived by his spouse, Martha “Marty” Moulthrop, and children Jamie, Meg and Molly.
“The industry lost a stalwart, and many of us lost a friend and mentor in the passing of Jim Moulthrop,” said FP2 president Dave Henderson, Asphalt Materials, Inc. “Jim’s contributions to our industry have left a lasting mark and he will be deeply missed. Dani’s and my thoughts and prayers are with Marty and the family during this difficult time.”
BEGAN WITH PENN DOT
Mr. Moulthrop received his B.A. in geology from St. Joseph’s College in 1960 and his M.S. in geology from Kansas State University in 1963. His interest in pavements and asphalt materials began in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation in the 1970s where he rose to the positions of state maintenance and state materials engineer.
There he worked for two decades in various positions, including assistant district and regional geotechnical engineer, chief field materials control engineer, chief of the Materials and Testing Division, and director of highway maintenance, before moving to the private sector.
Over his long and distinguished career, Mr. Moulthrop held positions and/or served in some capacity with other agencies and associations, and private sector companies such as Lubrizol, Exxon Chemical Americas, Koch Materials, and Fugro Roadware, while volunteering much time to professional committees which promote better pavements. Over the course of his career he also served on FHWA and ASTM advisory committees.
Of most benefit to the pavement community, Mr. Moulthrop was a long-time advocate of the importance of environmentally sustainable pavement preservation and recycling, a founding principle of the FP2 organization he led into the 21st century.
During his time serving the International Slurry Surfacing Association (ISSA) – during which Mr. Moulthrop was representing a materials supplier — he was instrumental in working with FHWA to develop broad-based agency support for pavement preservation.
FEDERAL FUNDING
FOR PRESERVATION
He also was instrumental in clarifying federal surface transportation legislation to ensure the availability of federal funds for chip seal, fog seal, micro surfacing, slurry seal, hot in-place recycling and cold in-place recycling research, and technological advancements.
Mr. Moulthrop was passionate about employing the pavement preservation concept — using the “right treatment to the right road at the right time” — to improve roads nationwide cost-effectively, as opposed to the “fix the worst roads first” concept. He worked to educate future generations on applying this important concept.
In 2012 Mr. Moulthrop was inducted into the FP2 Hall of Fame. On the occasion of his retirement in January 2022, Mr. Moulthrop was inducted into the AEMA Hall of Fame and presented with ARRA’s and ISSA’s Special Recognition Awards.
An expanded industry retrospective of Mr. Moulthrop and his impact on pavement preservation and recycling will appear in the Winter 2025 issue of Pavement Preservation Journal.
ABOUT FP2 INC.
FP2 Inc. is a non-profit trade association organized under the Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)6, and is supported by the pavement preservation industry, contractors, material suppliers and equipment manufacturers.
Formerly known as the Foundation for Pavement Preservation, FP2 supports the adoption of pavement preservation at all levels of government, and works to ensure that pavement preservation becomes a part of road programs from coast-to-coast. It also supports valuable research in pavement preservation, and works in close cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP), and regional pavement preservation partnerships and state-based pavement preservation centers.
FP2 also sponsors key promotional activity events, such as international and national pavement preservation conferences. It supports distribution of promotional information to support pavement preservation, such as brochures and the quarterly magazine Pavement Preservation Journal.
